Conwy

Conwy castle with the town of Conwy in the background Conwy is a small walled town on the coast in North Wales. It is on the UNESCO World Heritage List and a perfect base for exploring everything North Wales has to offer. The gateway to Snowdonia and easy access to the Island of Anglesey, the Victorian seaside town of Llandudno and the timeless Llyn Peninsula. Get in Conwy is readily accessible by train or bus with direct services to Llandudno Junction from throughout the UK and London Euston in 3 hours with taxi office on site to Conwy which is a 5 minute journey. There is smaller station in the centre of Conwy which is on the main Holyhead line with taxi rank outside the station. Holyhead has ferries to/from Dublin. Get around The town is small and easy to walk about. If you are venturing out of the downtown area, you may want to catch a bus. There are various day and rover tickets available including the new 'taith rover' that enables you to hop on and off buses AND trains for the area you've bought the rover for. Booklets can be found at the tourist info centre (right near the train station). See Conwy town walls and castle Conwy Castle, [1]. Mar-June/Sept-Oct 9.30-17, Jul-Aug 9.30-18. Built by Edward I in 1289, is smaller than Beaumaris or Caernarfon castles, but it has a lot of charm. It sits at the mouth of a tidal inlet, and the views of the sea on one side and gently rolling green hills on the other are lovely. Tours are 1 hour long and cost £1. See http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/?skip=1&lang=en for more info. £4.80/adult, £4.30/concession, £7 joint ticket with Plas Mawr.  edit Town Walls. 24hrs. The original town walls are still standing and can be walked along. Climb into one of the 22 towers and stroll along the outline of the original town of Conwy. There are some wonderful pictures to be taken here Free.  edit Plas Mawr (The Great Hall). Apr-Aug T-Su 9:30-18, shorter hours Sept-Oct. One of the finest surviving town houses of the Elizabethan era to be found in Britain, partially restored and otherwise maintained in its original condition. Fascinating look at what a wealthy merchant's life was like at that time. There is beautiful original and restored plaster work and paint. Head up to the small tower for a 360 degree look at the town and castle. £5/person, £7 joint ticket with Conwy Castle.  edit Aberconwy House. Believed to be the oldest town house in Wales dating from the 14th-century. Restored to reflect daily life of yesteryear. Get a joint visit ticket with the Conwy Suspension bridge (both run by the National Trust).  edit St. Mary's Church. Beautiful and has a grassy, pleasant cemetery with some interesting old headstones.  edit Riverfront. You can even buy Conwy mussels that have been brought in by the fisherman and here is the 'smallest house' in the UK. Perfect place to eat fish & chips with wonderful views. If you continue walking along the Marina Walk for 15 minutes you will come to Conwy Marina with wonderful views from the marina pub overlooking the boats and yachts. Conwy Golf Club (voted Welsh Club 2007) is also on the marina as is a beach.  edit Do Sightseeing boat. 30-min ride up and down the Conwy river. Normally runs on school holidays and most weekends through spring and summer.  edit Buy You can pick up fancy lingerie at a tiny boutique off the main square. For tourist trinkets, visit the Conwy Tourist Bureau shop up the road from the Castle. There are a number of independent specialty shops, including one that has a goth clothing department in its basement. There are a few art shops and a high-end chocolate shop. Just opened is a surf-style clothing store on the high street. Also on the high street is an almost-always-busy butcher's shop that sells baps and fresh-made sausages, Welsh Oggies and Welsh Rarebit. Bangor Road has a 'Fair-Trade shop' that sells foodstuffs and gifts (just before the gate exiting the town's main road, past Lancaster Square). For some really unique gifts, jewellery and home wares visit Loulimoo @ The Press Room [2] cafe on Rosehill Street. All products are beautifully handmade and to the highest quality. Eat The town has several great fish and chip shops with places to eat in including The Galleon & The Fisherman both near the waterfront and The Archway on Bangor Road near Lancaster Square. Alfredos Italian Restaurant on Lancaster Square is a family run restaurant that serves good food at a reasonable price in a lovely ambience. The Castle Hotel serves wonderful meals and snacks with some award winning chefs at the grill. Both Amelie's Bistro & Bistro Bach serve excellent Welsh fare locally produced. The Press Room serves good food and is found next to the castle and has outdoor seating. There is an Indian restaurant that serves good food. Both the Bridge Inn and George & Dragon do standard pub food. There's a nice tea room at the upper end of the high street called Pen Y Bryn Tea Rooms that serves excellent Welsh Rarebit and home made cakes and also Sunday lunch. The bakery on the main street has wonderful scones in the morning, if you're lucky and also does lovely giant cream cakes, that are just too nice! The town is not allowed to have any fast food franchises but does have a little kebab shop. Drink There are a few small pubs. Some feature pub trivia in the evenings. On the riverfront, the Liverpool Arms pub has outdoor seating overlooking the riverfront. On the other side of Bodlondeb (a short walk around the riverside, or even shorter drive), there is Conwy Marina where you can find an upmarket pub with vast outdoor seating overlooking the marina. For non-alchoholic drinks, Coffi Conwy is a Costa/Starbucks/Cafe Nero style coffee house. Across from the castle is Tower Coffee House, which is built into one of the wall turrets and gives great river views. Albion Ale House. A brewpub with several local Conwy beers on draft such as Conwy Honey Fayre. Can get a bit crowded at night on weekends, but the building is historic and worth going in for a glance. £3.  edit Sleep There are a number of small B&Bs, and some luxury B&Bs and hotels, available. If you can, reserve a room ahead of time at a Visitor Center (most Visitor Centers can reserve rooms for you throughout the UK). Alternatively there are many self-catering cottages in Conwy. Budget Conwy YHA, Larkhill, Sychnant Pass Rd, ☎ 0845 371 9732 (conwy@yha.org.uk), [3]. One of the cheapest places to stay, especially during holiday seasons. Like all youth hostels, the rooms are gender-separated. The canteen serves breakfast (not included) as well as a couple beers. Reception is open from 08-10.30 & 14-22.30. from £12.50/bed.  edit Camping Conwy Touring Park, Conwy, North Wales, Wales, LL32 8UX, ☎ 01492 592856, [4]. checkout: 11am. Large, modern and well-organized camp site 5 minutes' drive up the B5106, or an invigorating walk over the Bryn Seiri hill from the south side of Conwy. Very family-friendly, including an indoor playground next to the site pub's family room. Delays likely at buggy computerized road barrier, particularly around checkout time.  edit Stay Safe Conwy is a safe and tourist-friendly beautiful little town. Get out Bodnant Garden [5], 4 miles south of Conwy, is probably the best in Wales, with wonderful flowers and plants, including the beautiful Laburnum Arch of golden blooms that bloom in late May, as well as the Pin Mill. Adults £7.50, children £3.95, 20 Feb - 31 Oct 10AM-5PM, 1-21 Nov 10AM-4PM. Snowdonia [6] is very close, with many small villages to explore and mountains to climb, as well as the spectacular Snowdon Mountain Railway [7]. This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow!